Anime Hajime Review: Nyanko Days

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Nyanko Days. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Yuuko Konagai (voiced by Akari Uehara) is a shy girl. It’s not that she doesn’t want to make friends. She just doesn’t know how. It’s made school life a little dull. As well as a little lonely. But at the end of the day, it’s all alright. For at least Yuuko gets to go home to her precious babies.

Her three little kittens. Maa (voiced by Ibuki Kido) the mischievous Munchkin. Shii (voiced by Erii Yamazaki) the lovable Singapura. And Ro (voiced by Mikako Komatsu) the studious Russian Blue.

Even after the most tiring of days, these three know how to put a smile on Yuuko’s face.

More than that, though. Maa, Shii, and Ro may be Yuuko’s chance to finding a lasting friendship. Because as the Internet has proven to us, humans can’t help themselves when it comes to kitties.

These three never let things get boring. No matter how likely the possibility, a curious cat will find its way into trouble. But even when they're at their most frustrating, it’s hard to stay mad at the little felines that make your heart so warm.

Series Positives

Are you someone who likes cute things? Would you consider yourself a cat person? Does the idea of little kitten girls make you go “Aww”? If you said yes to any of those questions, Nyanko Days is for you.

There’s only one point to this show. Adorableness. With that, Nyanko Days knocked it out of the park. This series was cute. And if that’s the only thing going for it, then whatever.

If you’re clicking on a show that looks like and is called Nyanko Days, what else could you be looking for? We’re not talking about plot. We’re not delving into deep themes. We’re not discussing what makes this kind of series funny, dramatic, or gripping.

It was dumb. It was silly. It was short. And I liked it. That said, there's a surprising number of things I want to talk about. I know, I don’t believe it either.

The Cats

They were the reason why I even watched the thing in the first place. So, it’s good to know they were worth the price of admission.

Odyssey, are you a cat person or a dog person?

I don’t like this question. It infers that I like one and hate the other. Equate cats to a prime cut filet mignon. And dogs to a gourmet hamburger. Nine times out of ten, I’m going to go with the steak.

That doesn’t make the other less awesome.

That and I’ve owned cats. And how Nyanko Days portrayed Maa, Shii, and Ro was adorable in how accurate it was. Plus, these three remind me of my three.

Maa's the kind of cat where if you hear silence, that means something’s wrong. She had a tendency to get into trouble. Never intentional. But trouble had a way of following her. Yet, she was also the kind of cat where if you wanted to get a laugh, you only needed to sit back for two seconds. Sooner or later she would do something stupid.

Shii was the forever playful one. You could always count on her to show up whenever you feel down. This is the cat that craves attention. Wants all your time. And keeps failing to understand you don’t want her doing something after the thousandth time you’ve thrown her off the bed. But despite that, every time she comes back, your more than happy to tolerate it for a little bit longer.

Ro was a sweetheart. This is the type of cat that can be incredibly lovable. When she wants to be. There are moments when you go to pet her you might lose a hand. Except you’re going to keep doing it because you don’t know better. That and she gets cuter the madder she gets. Ro was also the one who almost made me lose it. Where Maa and Shii love being around strangers, Ro wants nothing to with them. Ever go to a friend’s house and ask them “Don’t you have a cat?” And they’re like, “Yeah, but you’re never going to see her.” That’s Ro.

Whenever Nyanko Days was cat-centric, it was doing its job. I was only here to see these three. I didn't care about anything else. Don’t give me anything else. Why are you giving me something else? And you can start to see the biggest problem with this show.

Series Negatives

Why wasn’t this released as an OVA? Just one, thirty-minute episode? While we’re at it, why wasn’t Nyanko Days longer? Not a full-length anime. But it could've been at least as long. It sure seemed like that was what this series wanted to do.

A few episodes were two-parters. What? Why? Nyanko Days isn't the type of show I'd be waiting a week in anticipation for. If I hadn’t marathon-ed the thing, I guarantee I wouldn’t have remembered what was going on.

Believe it or not, this show had a tendency to stop in the middle of whatever it was doing. Not even in clever spots either. It was like, “We’re doing this thing.” Done. Alright then. I’ll listen to your end credits song that’s half the episode's runtime.

When I realized, this would to be this type of anime, I accepted it. I was here to see the kitties anyway. When that was what I got, I was satisfied. So, color me surprised when the show sometimes didn’t do that.

The Humans

I don’t care about the humans. I wasn’t watching this series for them.

There were a few episodes, as in more than one, that didn’t have a cat show up. I beg your pardon, what? Nyanko Days was two minutes a pop. Why wasn’t it filled to the brim with kittens?

Instead, during these moments, we got a surprisingly in-depth look at our main character. That’s another problem. Our main character shouldn’t have been Yuuko. It should have been the cats. Have I driven this point home deep enough yet?

It’s why I asked, “Why wasn’t this series longer.” Based on what was shown, I could see Nyanko Days filling a full length, thirteen-episode anime. Would it have been any good? Maybe? It would’ve been gimmicky no doubt. But it already was, so what are we arguing here?

As I said earlier, I’m astonished I had this much to say about Nayanko Days. Of all things.

Final Thoughts

This show made a few questionable decisions. I can’t say I’m one hundred percent behind the direction this series chose to go. But I’m still going to recommend it. Why you ask?

For the exact same reason, I watched it. I took one look at Nyanko Days and said to myself, “That looks cute.” And I was right. It was.

This show is like a cat in that sense. I don’t know why they do half the things they do. And the other half I find kind of silly. So, I’m going to keep letting you do whatever it is you do.

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